News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, November 10, 2008

The two men have been a couple for 29 years, Mustich said during a phone interview Tuesday from his home, and are looking forward to the nuptials.

"Ken and I had a civil union back in 2005, and we knew that the marriage situation was coming through one way or another," Mustich said.

The state's Supreme Court last month declared civil unions to be inherently unfair and granted same-sex couples the right to marry.

But the legal wrangling necessary to actually implement the court's decision won't be done until about 9:15 this morning, when final judgment in the case that went to the Supreme Court, Kerrigan & Mock v. Department of Public Health, will be entered.

At that time, Judge Jonathan Silbert will hold a proceeding in New Haven Superior Court to order the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

For Mustich and Cornet, the decision to wed was prompted by last month's ruling.

"It wasn't until it happened that we thought we should go ahead and upgrade to a marriage license from a civil union license," Mustich said. "I'm very proud of Connecticut, between the legislature and the Supreme Court. I think it's a special day for Connecticut."

At Love Makes a Family, the statewide nonprofit gay marriage advocacy coalition, the court proceeding in New Haven will be seen as the fruit of eight years of struggle, Anne Stanback, the group's executive director, said Tuesday.

"Tomorrow is a culmination of all of the work that the thousands and thousands of people around the state have participated in," she said. "The court case has been percolating through the system for four years, so it has been a day that we've all been waiting for."

Stanback said there's no way of knowing how many gay couples will tie the knot today or in the coming months, but the number of civil unions should be an indicator.

"There were over 1,700 couples who have gotten civil unions in the past three years," she said. "My experience is the vast majority of those will probably get married."

She also said since Connecticut is now one of only two states to have legal gay marriage, couples from out of state will be arriving to wed.

"Then, of course, there are couples who never got a civil union who were waiting for full marriage equality," she said.

When can same-sex couples marry? Same-sex couples can get marriage licenses at any Town Hall in Connecticut beginning shortly after 9:15 a.m. today, when judgment in the Kerrigan case is entered in New Haven Superior Court. For legal advice, couples may call a hot line set up by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), (800) 455-GLAD. For locations of Town Halls and a list of clergy willing to perform same-sex marriages or justices of the peace who will perform ceremonies, visit Love Makes A Family's Web site at www.lmfct.org.